to seasoned astronomers, how long to wait for clear weather?

hi guys. as you all know im sure ( i mention it enough) i only got a scope about 3 months ago, but ive only got about 3-4 chances to use it since i got it. its always cloudy, rainy, or gail force winds, and i cant be waiting up until 1-2 am for it to clear up , as i have to be up for work in the mornings. i was off for a solid 10 days over xmas and nothing but rain and clouds! is it always like this in ireland, or is this just a very bad patch of weather over the last few months? theres only so much you can learn from a book without actually getting out there.

We do seem to be having a particularly bad patch at the moment, it started around September and hasn't stop since,. I cant honestly remember having such winds over such a long amount of time. I've hardly used the scope at all over the past few months, so you're not alone.
We've hardly had a frost, there are plants in the garden that are usually dead by now due to frost, one of them is even flowering, its usually a dead twig at this time of the year.

Meteorology is a little bit of a hobbyhorse of mine. metcheck.com is a good site to read up about why the current weather is at it is. The current problem is the positioning and intensity of the main north atlantic jet stream. The result is a steady stream of low pressure centres tracking in over iceland. This invariably means strong winds and weather fronts tracking along the southern edge of these and is of course very bad news for us.

The good news is it looks like a weak ridge later tomorrow (tues) and tomorrow night should bring some fine clear weather for all parts. The downside is with all this rain and slackening winds there is always a risk of fog.

Further bad news is it looks like continuing this way into late January:(

To answer fguihen's original question. Sometimes you just get a bad run like this. Sometimes you get a great run where your almost hoping for some cloud to get some sleep. It's no fun when you get a new scope and we get a bad run like this. But cheer up there are good times too

See 'Winter, Is it Really?' on this page.

www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/HOME/

Hey Fintan,

I only started about 18 months ago but last year we had at least 3 times more clear skies in 2005. Only been out twice in 3 months now but it looks like we may have a clear patch rolling in on Wednesday between fronts

This site is often correct for me

pages.unibas.ch/geo/mcr/3d/meteo/ -- just click on "all" at the end of the Cloud Cover row
or the Metcheck site @
www.metcheck.com/

Not always correct but better chance of being right than met.ie!

Trev

A wise Astro2 member once commented that being an astronomer in Ireland is a bit like being a member of the Jamaican bobsleigh team ... from a weather point of view both are about as compatible with the natural climate of the region

Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll get some of those wonderful frosty nights within the next few months *pleads*

Bart.